Constructing the Craft of Public Administration: Perspectives from Australia

Review\n“This is an important and timely assessment of how senior public servants ply their craft, greatly enriched by the manner in which it incorporates the views of departmental secretaries themselves and captures their innate scepticism of managerialism. One is left agreeing that good public administration is a cornerstone of democratic governance but that its application requires much more than textbook knowledge.” (Peter Shergold, Chancellor, Western Sydney University, Australia)
“Constructing the Craft of Public Administration is a sophisticated, comprehensive, theoretically-informed sociological analysis of leadership at the peak of the public service in Australia. Drawing on wider developments in Westminster systems, it charts the momentous changes to the public services impacting over the past few decades. The originality of Christine’s research focuses on how departmental secretaries grapple with the competing challenges in executing their responsibilities, within the increasingly contestable environment in which they operate. But more importantly, Christine complements this analysis with an explicit emphasis on what they have actually done and can do to better manage their roles and responsibilities. Christine traces how legacies of command, control and assurance meld with softer political and artful skills. Christine concludes by producing a fine conceptual model of the craft of working in public administration. This book is among the best empirical analyses of Australian departmental secretaries in situ to date.” (John Wanna, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University and Griffith University, Australia)
“Christine Shearer’s book is an important contribution to understanding the ‘purple zone’ between politics and administration. The book’s strength comes from presenting the perspective of those directly involved, current and former Australian departmental secretaries. While acknowledging Australia’s ‘considered approach’ to NPM reforms and its ‘reasonably judicious’ adoption of private sector management approaches, Christine questions whether NPM has had a lasting positive impact. More important is the continuing relevance of the ‘craft of public administration’, particularly being both politically astute and firmly apolitical.” (Andrew Podger, Honorary Professor of Public Policy, Australian National University, Australia)
“Christine Shearer’s terrific exploration of trends in contemporary public administration is essential reading for anyone wanting to make sense of how things work in government. Her clear-eyed study, drawing on interviews with senior public servants, confirms that grand reform ideas must work through complex – often invisible – gear shifts before the rubber meets the road. This book is a treasure trove of insights.” (Michael Mintrom, Professor of Public Policy and Director of Better Governance and Policy, Monash University, Australia)“By thinking about public administration as a craft, learned through practice, Christine Shearer offers a fresh perspective on the leadership of the Australian Public Service. Her interviews and analysis convey the rich context of departmental secretaries as boundary riders, public actors who must simultaneously wrangle ministers, advisers, politics and public duties. The result is a nuanced and original study of why public sector leadership is too complex to fit within the simple models of private sector management.” (Glyn Davis AC, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Australia and New Zealand School of Government, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Australia, Visiting Professor, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, UK)
“As civil service institutions lose their identity and purpose under political and managerial pressures, an original exploration of the core issues has been produced. Tapping a unique set of interviews with Australian departmental secretaries, the study probes the case for a renewed c